


Only The Good Stuff

by Namigati



Category: Captain America
Genre: Also I suck at tags, Bucky adores Steve and talks about him to his platoon, Bucky talks about Steve like he's the greatest thing ever (and he really is), Friendship/Love, I have a lot of feelings for these two please, Implicit Steve/Bucky, Implicit spoilers of Captain America: The First Avenger, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-25
Updated: 2014-07-25
Packaged: 2018-02-10 07:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2015472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Namigati/pseuds/Namigati
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky's off at war and his fellow soldiers are talking about the ladies back home. Bucky doesn't have a dame waiting like the rest, but he has something just as special.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Only The Good Stuff

**Author's Note:**

> I made a post a bit ago, and decided to write a ficlet about it. That being said, it came out MUCH longer than I intended, but I hope it's still alright.  
> I also mixed MCU canon, comics canon, and just made some stuff up about their lives, so it doesn't stick to any one thing, even if it is based off of CATFA

It wasn't like Bucky _didn't care._ Of course he did, these men were his -- his soldiers, his friends, and until the war was over and every last one of them dead (preferably at home, of old age) his family. They had been marching for days, with a few minor skirmishes along the way, but nothing too horrible. Sometimes bombs would go off and a few good men would be lost, but the rest survived, kept on, kept the fight going.

  
To keep morale up, and to just calm down some nights, the boys sat around the fire about an hour before they were expected to sleep. They'd swap stories, alternate between men. It was usually the same: there was always a gal back home, sweet as can be, missing someone. They all had girls back home. Wives, daughters, dating dames, girls they were sweet on. Everyone missed some girly.

  
Except Sergeant Barnes. Sure he was a total stud, and dated around, but that was for show, he wasn't really overly wild about them. There was no girl waiting for Bucky back home, there was only Steve. So Bucky kept quiet and let the other men talk. He figured it'd be good for them to get it out anyway.  
A few nights in, one of the Corporals sat next to him and asked if there were any special ladies in his life. Bucky laughed and shook his head. Absolutely not. Women are great, but there was never any love for one. Not for Bucky. Only dates and double dates and group outings.  
"C'mon, Barnes. Guy with your smile? There's gotta be someone special."

  
"Well, everyone's got someone, right?" They all nodded in agreement, and Bucky could only think of one person. "So, I have this buddy. Alright, he's more than that, this guy means the world to me. And he's the smallest, toughest guy you'll ever meet -- the biggest punk, too." And so it began. He told of how he met Steve, both of them little snots who knew the harshness of the world but neither understood it very well. He had saved Steve from some bigger kids -- Steve had been mouthing off or something, and Bucky came to learn that it wasn't the first time an incident like that had occurred, and it was far from the last -- and they became fast friends. They were nine and ten, Bucky always proclaiming it his job to protect Steve because he was over a year older (nearly 16 months to be exact. It only took him four days to calculate, he was so proud) epecially since Steve was always landing into trouble.

  
Bucky was always sneaking to Steve's house, being a little shit and causing his own trouble, Steve just happy to have a friend. It wasn't until about three or four months into their friendship that Bucky revealed he was an orphan. Steve had been dumbfounded! After all, he talked about his father in the army, and his sweet ma, and his cute sister! To be fair, Bucky never thought he was lying to Steve -- his father was in the army, but when he had died, Bucky was separated from his sister, who was sent to an all girls boarding school while he was placed in the orphanage (there was no way Bucky was going to leave New York for some place that would make him learn stupid stuff. He wanted to be right by his father's home and so convinced _someone_ to let him stay.) It hadn't changed the way Steve saw, or treated him, nor his mother.

  
Steve liked to draw, was the best at it! He'd draw the city, he'd draw the docks, he'd draw Bucky. For some reason, he liked drawing Bucky the best. Sometimes, after work, Bucky would take a quick nap on the couch before making dinner and when he woke up, Steve'd have ten pictures of him! Short sketches, long carefully crafted work, anything done by Steve was a masterpiece in Bucky's eyes.

  
Bucky was there when Steve's mom finally passed, suffering in illness, unable to shake TB, and tried to convince Steve to come live with him. After enough refusals, Bucky sold his apartment and settled in with Steve. He'd cook and work, Steve'd clean and draw, sometimes selling a picture or two, bringing in enough money to help pay for rent for the month. They didn't live a grand life, sometimes they couldn't afford too much to eat, but they lived happily because they depended on each other.

  
Whenever Steve was sick, he liked when Bucky rubbed his back and sang to him. Bucky was a fair singer, but it always embarrassed him to sing to Steve. But when Steve would look up at him with those watery blue eyes, coughing and sniffling, Bucky was lost, and he'd sing every song he knew just to lull Steve to sleep so he wouldn't have to suffer the pain anymore. When he got better, Steve'd thank him for singing, thank him for staying, as if Bucky ever planned on leaving. That was something completely out of the question.  
When there was enough money, Bucky would go out on dates, but he loved the double dates with Steve best. Even if the girls didn't like him (and seriously, what in the world was wrong with them? Steve Rogers was the best man they'd ever meet!) Bucky loved spending every free moment with his best friend, his Steve. They'd laugh and have a good time, even when the girls would ditch them because Steve wasn't their type and Bucky was ignoring them because they were being rude to Steve. (Before he lost interest in taking girls seriously altogether, he always had the thought of, "I'm never gonna marry a girl that can't see how great Steve is, too." in mind.) No matter how many dates they went on, they all ended the same -- Bucky taking Steve back home after a night of enjoying Steve's company. They didn't need girls, they had each other.

  
People always picked on Steve, and even when it wasn't necessary, Bucky always felt the need to protect him. Be there when things got rough, punch a guy out and help Steve up and brush off. There was this girl once. Gorgeous figure, carried herself well, pretty face, pouty lips, a beautiful dame. Steve told a guy to stop treating her like dirt, and she liked that. Had Steve take her on a few dates. Bucky didn't like that -- a part of him was glad that someone had finally seen how great, how sweet, how kind, how perfect Steve was, but there was this dark possessiveness inside of him and he wasn't sure he was ready to let go. He didn't trust this girl, there was something off about her. After some looking into, Bucky discovered that the girl and her friends (and her _boyfriend_ and his friends) thought it'd be funny to play a cruel joke on Steve. Bucky rushed to tell him, warn him, save him, but it backfired and Steve got angry with him. Accused him of being jealous that for once, someone liked _him_ instead of Bucky. Accused Bucky of thinking that just because he wasn't handsome, tall, and charming like Bucky that anyone interested _had_ to be suspicious and couldn't possibly mean it. It hurt Bucky so much that he left, said "fine, but don't expect me to come save you this time" and stormed away. Of course Bucky didn't mean it, and followed Steve, right to the girl and group, who mocked Steve, saying how stupid and naive he was, that no one that beautiful would ever want him. The girl's boyfriend added how he can't just take someone else's girl, and threw a punch. It probably knocked Steve out, because after Bucky stepped in, beating the crap out of the boys and yelling at the girls, and picking Steve up, walking back home with him, Steve looked surprised to see him.

  
 _"Thought you weren't gonna save me, jerk."_

_"I just said not to expect me to, punk."_

Often times, one of Bucky's stories would run over the time, and they'd have to sleep, have to march, have to fight. But the next fire lit, everyone would gather around, shouting out where Bucky had left off on his adventures with Steve Rogers, little punk with a big heart.  
The fights Steve got into, over the silliest of things -- who cares about a guy saying "dame" to a dame? _Steve does, you idiot_ \-- and how he'd pout and get upset with Bucky for pulling him out -- He'd be dead without you. _That isn't the point_ \-- and how scary it was whenever Steve caught a cold because with Steve, it was never just a cold. Bucky never knew if it was going to turn into a high fever (again), the flu (again), scarlet fever (again) or maybe -- just maybe -- Steve would just get better because for once, it was just a cold. It was scary to love Steve, to adore Steve with every fiber of his being, because that punk insisted he could take care of himself, never wanted Bucky's help, never wanted to be treated gently. For all his strength, the hardest part of Bucky's life was pretending that it didn't hurt when Steve glared at him for trying to help, that he was fine with Steve wading into danger with no way to win the fight, that he wasn't _terrified_ at the first sign of sickness, scared to go to sleep because _what if Steve didn't wake up_? Loving Steve Rogers was a curse that Bucky thought only he could bear, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

  
Bucky felt many things when Steve pulled him off of that table, adoration and relief being up there. He thought he was going to die, thought that he was never going to see Steve again, but he refused to give up because maybe, just _maybe_ , he could get back home to the little punk. But to have Steve save him, have his back when no one else could, to do the thing he'd do if Steve were ever in danger -- that made him want to laugh and weep. He was just so happy to see Steve again, even if a lot had changed (coupled with the fact he had done exactly what Bucky had told him _not_ to, but he supposed he couldn't be mad because they were both still breathing).

But nothing could have prepared him for the good natured embarrassment that came when the very soldiers he had talked Steve up to met him for the first time.

"So you're Steve Rogers then?"

"Um, yeah, that's... That's me."

"We're pleased to finally meet ya."

"Heard a lot about ya, kid."

"A whole lot, good to know ya."

"Y'know, Sarg, he's a bit bigger than what ya told us."

They gave him a look, a strange smile and a firm handshake, leaving Steve confused and Bucky torn between amusement and unchararistic bashfulness. 

"You told them about me?"

Bucky smiled softly and closed his eyes, leaning into Steve with the last of his strength.

"Only the good stuff."


End file.
